Portsmouth lax wins ‘Clipper Classic’

PORTSMOUTH — When Chris McGuirk resigned as coach of the Portsmouth High School boys lacrosse team after the 2007 season, assistant coach Peter Latchaw took over the program.

McGuirk led the Clippers to an appearance in the Division III championship game in the final season of his four-year tenure before he moved to Massachusetts and began coaching Norwell High School.

The close friends decided two years ago to have their schools play each other every year and with both school’s nickname being the Clippers, the “Clipper Classic” was born.

After back-to-back overtime losses in the past week, Portsmouth got a much-needed win in Saturday afternoon’s third installment with an 11-7 victory at Tom Daubney Field. Norwell won the first two games, but this was the first time the game counted in the Division II standings for Portsmouth (5-5).

“I love this game,” McGuirk said. “It’s great that once a year we get the Portsmouth Clippers and the Norwell Clippers together. I’ve got a lot of friends in this administration and this coaching staff and I really look forward to playing them every year.”

Latchaw and McGuirk began coaching together with the U-11 team of the Seacoast Lacrosse Club in 2002. They followed the group in the subsequent U-13 and U-15 years and into high school. Latchaw guided the Portsmouth Clippers to their second-straight Division III championship game in 2008.

“Chris and I are great friends off the field and that’s why we started arranging this Clipper Classic,” Latchaw said. “For us, it’s all about the sport of lacrosse, to bring different teams together and to expose players from different areas. Lacrosse is such a big family for us.”

Junior Ian MacDonald led Portsmouth with five goals, while freshman John Franks had four. Tom O’Toole netted five goals for Norwell (5-10 in Mass. D-III).

“The kids can see the good, healthy sportsmanship me and Chris can have on the sideline and really compete really hard,”Latchaw added. “But before and after the game, we’re good friends and that’s what it’s all about. Today’s game was a good representation of that.”

O’Toole netted three goals in the first quarter to give Norwell a 3-1 lead, but Franks scored a pair of goals and Luke LaCroce scored to give Portsmouth a 4-3 lead after the quarter.

MacDonald and Franks each scored in the second to give Portsmouth a 6-5 lead at halftime. PHS broke the game open in the third when Colin MacDonald scored and his younger brother, Ian, added four goals to take an 11-6 lead after three quarters.

“I think this was the first time this season where we actually put together a full game,” Latchaw said. “We fell down 3-1, but we kept our heads in the game and played smart lacrosse. This game had a little bit of everything; it was just a good lacrosse game.”

Colin MacDonald said that after suffering a pair of heart-breaking losses, a win was the only option for his team. Portsmouth dropped overtime games to St. Thomas (8-7) and Merrimack (10-9) and also lost in overtime to Bow in the season-opener.

“It was a must-win,” MacDonald said. “We came out firing and my little brother had a great game. We’ve just got to stay positive. Coming off those (losses) it’s a bad feeling, but today we came out and played our hearts out.”

McGuirk said he has a young group this season, but they should be further along than they are. He credited what Latchaw has done with the program since his departure.

“We knew it was going to be a competitive game and it was,” McGuirk said. “Those guys pretty much outplayed us from start-to-finish. It’s great to see (Latchaw) bringing the program forward.”

Portsmouth rests in the No. 6 spot in the standings with five games left in the regular season. Eight teams make the Division II tournament. Colin MacDonald is confident his team will have a strong final push before the tournament arrives.

“We’re going in with supreme confidence,” the senior said. “No more losses. We can’t have another one.”